Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 07/10/2022
Ever since the mass protests in Iran began, unfounded insinuations have been circulating on social media that the West directed them.
Protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the “morality police” in Iran, were the subject of intense media coverage worldwide. At the same time, posts appeared on social networks in our language, in which it is claimed or insinuated that the protests are, in fact, the result of the actions of Western governments that seek to overthrow the Iranian regime.
On the “conspiracy” Facebook profile of Azra Pasic on September 20, 2022, several videos of the protest were published, with the following description:
Demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died after being arrested by the morality police, are spreading across several Iranian universities today, especially in Tehran.
This was a way to evoke the fall of the government. I may be wrong.
A somewhat more straightforward insinuation was shared by a popular conspiracy theorist who publishes content under the name Marko Kraljevic – the fourth. On this Facebook profile on September 28, 2022, a collage of the symbols of large protests in Europe and the United States of America (USA) of the past decades has been published, which are often claimed in “conspiracy” circles to have been directed “from outside”:
Clear accusations that the West is to blame for the protests were published on a Facebook profile on September 27, 2022, featuring misogynistic insults:
Here it is, the west has come to Iran, a Muslim country where it is known how a woman should behave. And not like our women, who are very much normal, who still remain and have some values. In Iran, you won’t see a woman wearing a miniskirt, showing her breasts, going out to nightclubs, those immoral places among scum and morons. A woman must be like a pearl in a shell, not a shell into which any fool can enter. I don’t understand this women’s protest in Iran??? You live in a Muslim country, not a Western democracy, where every form of immorality is allowed. I agree that it is not normal for a woman to cover her eyes and wear black. She should be dressed normally so that nothing is visible. Only her man can see her femininity, not the other rats. Let alone that he is allowed to have male friends in Iran, or to talk to them. These are normal laws. That’s why there is morality in Iran, here in the Balkans, some sick western fashion has come where our women have become these modern sick European women with a dull brain. I don’t see any problem here in Iran. These are laws, and laws must be respected and obeyed. If we had these laws, marriages would be sacred, and you would know what is allowed and what is not. Here, in general, in the Balkans, everyone lies, slanders, cheats and does all kinds of nasty things. Support for Iran as a country and these women who are looking for some stupid rights that they don’t see are bad for them, should stop. Or to go to Germany in the middle of nowhere where people are drugged up zombies and swollen with immorality and disease. But people today want wonderful marriages, great love, a great partner, and they would accept immorality and destruction and some stupid freedom. You cannot live like a pig and expect to be treated like a lion.
Other posts on Facebook claim or insinuate that Western countries are “to blame” for the protests and that the protests are spin and distraction. Also, some media are accused of lying about the events in that country (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Similar statements can be found in numerous comments under media reports on social networks (1, 2, 3).
What is happening in Iran?
Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by Iran’s “morality police” in Tehran on September 13 for allegedly not being properly dressed. As stated in the article of Radio Free Europe from September 15, 2022, a few hours after her arrest, her family was informed that Amini was in the hospital, and several people later said that they witnessed her being beaten in a police van.
Police claimed that Amini was not beaten, but was taken to a hijab “re-education” center and suffered sudden heart problems, the article said.
In an article published on the Guardian web portal on September 16, 2022, it is reported that Amini’s family claims that she was in a coma when they came to the hospital, and the doctors told them that she had suffered brain death. The family rejects the possibility that Mahsa Amini died of a heart attack because, according to them, she was a healthy young woman who did not have any heart problems.
Less than a month before this event, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed an order implementing a new law on hijab and chastity, which introduced new restrictions on women’s clothing. This summer, several women were arrested for opposing the forced wearing of the hijab.
Mahsa Amini died on September 16, three days after she was arrested, and her death sparked protests in Tehran. The protests soon began to spread and were held in more than 100 Iranian cities, and the demonstrators, in addition to women’s rights, also protested poverty and general dissatisfaction with the way Iranian society is organized.
In late September, Iranian authorities blocked access to Instagram and Whatsapp in an attempt to curb the protests, which they claim were orchestrated by the US and Israel.
According to data from the Iranian Human Rights Organization, 92 people have lost their lives in protests since October 2.
Theocratic regime
The Islamic Republic of Iran was formed in 1979 after a conservative revolution overthrew that country’s monarchy. As explained in an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, protests against the then-current regime began in 1978, after years of dissatisfaction with the economy and social order of the country. Government forces killed many people in clashes with demonstrators, which further increased the anger of the people and the intensity of the protests.
In February 1979, the old regime came to an end. In April of the same year, the leader of the revolution, Ruhollah Khomeini, better known as Ayatollah Khomeini, declared Iran an Islamic republic after a referendum, according to a Britannica article. After that, politicians who advocated progressive views were removed from positions of power, and Iran returned to conservative values.
In theory, the Iranian regime is a combination of Islamic theocracy and democracy. As explained in the article of the BBC web portal in Serbian from June 18, 2021, citizens elect the president of the state and members of the state parliament in the elections. However, there are institutions that citizens do not elect. They are controlled by the supreme leader and the citizens have no influence on their choice.
As explained in the mentioned article, the supreme leader is the most powerful person in the state. The first supreme leader was the just-mentioned leader of the revolution Ruhollah Khomeini, and now his successor Ali Khamenei is in that position. The supreme leader controls the armed forces, appoints the first man of the judiciary, members of the influential Council of Guardians of the Revolution and heads of state TV and radio stations. You can read more about the Iranian state system and institutions in the mentioned BBC article in Serbian.
Although elections are held in Iran every four years, it is considered that the electoral system in that country does not meet international standards of democracy, partly due to the influence of the Guardian Council, an unelected body that disqualifies any candidates it considers insufficiently loyal to the regime.
The Iranian legal system is based on Sharia law. Their criminal code, among other things, includes extremely violent physical punishments, including the death penalty, for a wide range of crimes – from adultery to alcohol consumption.
According to Amnesty International, nine-year-old girls and 15-year-old boys can be sentenced to death. At least 73 minors were executed between 2005 and 2015 in Iran, according to the organization’s website.
As stated on the website of this organization, numerous human rights have been taken away or restricted for citizens of Iran. Women, the LGBT community and ethnic and religious minorities are frequent targets of discrimination and violence. It is also reported that judicial punishments such as flogging, amputation and blinding are imposed in Iran, and that the death penalty is widely used as a weapon of repression.
Protests – staged events or a fight for rights?
Hundreds of videos on the Internet show thousands of people on the streets of Iran, and media reports claim that they are joined by college students and even high school students (1, 2).
Apart from the claims of the Iranian authorities, who blame the US and Israel for planning and directing the protests, and social media users who support these claims, there are no concrete reports that would indicate that the protests were directed or planned “from outside”.
Although officials of certain Western countries, as well as human rights experts at the United Nations, have publicly condemned the death of Mahsa Amini, there is nothing that would tie them to organizing or managing the protests.
It is important to emphasize that these are not the first mass protests in Iran in recent years. Anti-regime protests in this country were held, among others, in 1999, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In almost all cases, the regime dealt mercilessly with demonstrators.
Although it is impossible to say whether other countries or their governments will try to gain some kind of political or economic benefit from the civil unrest in Iran, the claims that foreign agencies are behind the initiation and organization of the protests are unfounded. Such insinuations are also malicious because they underestimate the decision of the demonstrators in Iran to risk their safety and lives in protests for their rights and the rights of their families, friends and fellow citizens. At the same time, violence against demonstrators is implicitly justified, and such claims also lead to the conclusion that they have no real reason to protest.
